Paul “Earthquake” Pena

Paul Pena originated from a Cape Verdean history and learned the Afro-Portuguese music of these islands, including morna. His musician dad also delivered him to Spain and Portugal to review flamenco. He started to get thinking about blues, though. Due to the folk motion within the ’60s, he were able to function his method up and sideways, and began to to try out with T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker. He released a single record on Capitol in 1972 which do pretty well critically, otherwise commercially. He transferred to SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA and began starting gigs for the Pleased Dead. Even while, Pena was impressing lots of the music artists with whom he emerged connected. He began focus on a second record in 1973, but mismanagement conspired to maintain it from ever released. Through the music artists’ grapevine, among the monitors caught the hearing of Steve Miller. “Plane Airliner” became a huge strike for the Steve Miller Band and its own royalties supplied a modicum of income for Pena. Although he was keeping himself active, next time he found public interest was due to his learning Tuvan neck performing. He was hearing shortwave radio and captured a Soviet broadcast of Tuvan music. He do a little bit of analysis to track details down, as throat performing was virtually unidentified within the U.S. in those days. When the initial recordings of Tuvan neck singing became obtainable, he trained himself how exactly to sing by hearing recordings. When Kongar-ol Ondar came out in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Pena fulfilled him and sang for him. Ondar asked him to go to Tuva and take part in a neck singing competition. Pena do, and his visit to Tuva can be documented within the award-winning film Genghis Blues. Pena earned the competition in his category, therefore impressed the Tuvans which they dubbed him “Earthquake” after his low and resonant kargyraa neck singing design. He is rolling out a close a friendly relationship with Kongar-ol Ondar and spent some time working with him in creating a cross Tuvan blues design.